In the beginning there was the word, and in artist Michael Genovese’s work that word takes myriad forms, encompassing wall paintings, installations and graphic sculptures. Genovese has a background of strange jobs that inform his unique aesthetic- from painting carnival signs to painting the bases of swimming pools. He recently relocated from Chicago to Miami , where he has a major she opening the months at A-Ron’s cavernous OHWOW space. Although his work can appear graphic and bold in nature, Genovese is really interested in what he describes as “humility, and perseverance, abandonment and desolation - the melting pot of culture, race, gender, and socioeconomics.”

Dazed: How did you start making art?

MG: I was hired to paint signs for a traveling carnival, and while it was technically considered ‘art making’  by my boss, I began to see it as that. I started seeing penmanship as a cultural fingerprint.

Why attracts you to typography and lettering?

MG: I’m drawing to lettering because of what it emotes, aside from its literal meaning. I am mostly interested in handwritten text. It is someone’s identity, like a self-portrait, which is unique to a time and place, and a personal history.

What inspired you to start playing around with Latino text?

MG: I was trying to buy a soft-serve from an ice cream truck in front of my house. The man selling the ice cream didn’t speak English and the truck didn’t have any signs. His family was inside. His wife- was sitting on a tub of ice cream with his newborn daughter- also didn’t speak English. No one understood what I was trying to order. After we sorted it out, I offered to paint signs on his truck. I went home and drew out some ideas that night but he didn’t come back the next day. I resigned from my day job, packed up a bag with paint, and started looking for the family. I never found them but did find people in a similar situation. In Chicago, there are still pushcart vendors who roam the side streets selling elotes, fruit and vegetables in search of the “American Dream.” I bartered my way into painting their carts. I mostly got paid in fruit, but the meat of the project was in the transaction and interaction.

How has your move to Miami influenced your work?

MG:There is a Dodge-City sort of feel to Miami, you cannot quite grasp what is going to happen next. There is also a man versus nature battle happening here. Hurricane season comes and the city grows quiet and dark. It’s wild. 

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Gavin, Francesca. “Writing His Way into the History of Art.” Hung and Drawn, Dazed, Vol. 2, Issue #75, London, UK., July 2009.